One Thousand Words
by Striking Falcon
Summary: Continuation of 1000.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

_Choose wisely my dear, because there is no turning back._

Could she honestly say that she heeded this advice, wisely spoken by a woman she respected?

Could she honestly argue that, after hearing the tragic tale of the houshi and his brother, she had stopped to think about the consequences of her actions?

. . .That she could be permanently disfigured?

. . .That the method could leave her in a homicidal rage, where she would then mindlessly slaughter all those she loved dear?

. . .That she may never be accepted in the world beyond the well, her home, again?

No.

She honestly had not.

She thought with her heart, like always, and now look where it got her. . .

Collared like a rabid cur . . .

Her eyes, once a deep sapphire blue, now resembled silver coins with golden rings. . .

She was a monster now.

Just like Naraku.

(Chapter End)

SF: Hi!

Inu-cha: Girl where have you been? It's been at least a year and a half! Stories haven't been completed, you got people hanging and you come out with this piece of garbage! Why I oughta-

Kagome: SIT!

**WHAM!**

SF: Inu-chan is right. It has been a really long time and I am very sorry for it. This past year and a half has been extremely busy. The last time you guys saw me I had just got married-

Inu-chan: Poor bastard!

Kagome: *sigh* Sit!

**BAM!**

Kagome: Go ahead SF-sama.

SF: Well, life has completely taken over. I have two nephews now, my husband's on deployment, and I'm going to school. That's right, I'm trying to better myself and I haven't had a lot of time to write. I still don't honestly and a lot of the other stories are stuck behind writer's block. This story, which is a continuation of 1000, is the only one that the plot bunnies are reproducing for. So sorry and I totally understand if I do not receive a single review for it. I'm just glad to be back, on stage, where my people are. Updates will be sporadic.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I forgot this the last time I posted. Inuyasha does not belong to me and I don't make enough money to attempt to buy them. I personally believe that Sesshomaru would make a better pet than the fat furry mass I call Grandpa anyway.

Chapter Two

The hour was late and the night beyond quiet, the only sound the soft pitter-patter of raindrops as they fell from the grey clouds that choked the sky. The creatures of the forest were safely tucked in their burrows and holes, leaving the wind alone to play in the drenched leaves of the trees surrounding a clearing. Earlier in the evening the small band of fighters found shelter in the cave entrance found in the center of the clearing. The cave's entrance was hooded by a group of massive rocks that concealed it, but did not hinder entrance into the tunnel beyond it. The tunnel gently sloped downward, below ground, until it ended at the beginning of a massive cavern. The group found that they could easily spend the night within its spacious circular clearing. The tunnel provided enough air circulation to safely create a campfire without the fear of being smothered by smoke.

The process of setting up camp was once filled with light banter and a playful banter that spoke of the ease and closeness the group felt toward each other. Now it was strained, the silence weighted as they went about their tasks. Among them a small firecat sat, her twin tails swaying in the slight breeze as she watched her humans work. Ruby orbs glanced thoughtfully at each member, her ears perked to the trickling coming from a small underground stream that had made its bed nearby.

"Kirara?"

She regarded the small kitsune silently, allowing herself to be pulled into his lap to receive a comforting hug. Together they watched as Inuyasha stood guard at the entrance, Sango arranged the firewood they found before entering the cave into a suitable pit, and Miroku walked off toward a smaller cave. The object of their discontent, all five foot two of her, crouched at the edge of the river, her back turned toward the rest of the group as they warily went about their daily tasks.

Kagome watched her reflection in the water's rapid current, her attention caught by the silvery-gold orbs that now regarded the world around her. Yesterday she was normal with brown eyes and dark hair. Today seemed to shift off of some slime-slick cliff into a yawning abyss and she again found herself tugging harshly at the auburn lock of hair nestled closely to her ear.

'Was it so bad,' she asked herself as tears began to well in her eyes, 'to want to protect them? Was wanting Naraku's end so bad that I had to end up like this? I did this for them and they are afraid of me. Of _me_, when all I wanted to do was become less of a burden.'

"She's crying again," Shippou sighed despondently. He absentmindedly scratched Kirara's fur, being careful of his claws, as Kagome seemed to crumple in on herself like a deflated 'ball-hoon'. 'We're not helping,' he said to himself and turned toward the others of the group. Sango and Miroku were not trying to be cruel when they were avoiding her. They just did not understand the power that now flowed through her veins, nor the level of her control over it. Inuyasha should have been close to understanding her situation, with him being hanyou and the Tetsusiaga having such a tight rein on his youkai blood, but he too chose to not to chance the instability within her.

'Well, I'm not going to do it,' Shippou determined as he sat Kirara down and slowly approached her. 'I know Kagome and she wouldn't hurt us.' He approached her silently, emerald orbs welling with tears as he watched her shoulders tremble. He could not imagine her suffering, the long days fighting youkai, the nights by herself with no companion, in the promise of obtaining something that would help them defeat Naraku. Kagome left with the _idea_ of a promise, unsure if the tale she heard was real or the plot of some writer's imagination. She also left without an idea as to how to gain this power though it was obvious that Naraku knew it and used it for his own gain. He had been aware of her deadly, mindless potential and in the end it was Kagome paying the price. . .

Again. . .

It was when he was close enough to touch her that Shippou stilled, his paw reaching for her shoulder as a sudden wave of power washed over him. It engulfed him instantly, leaving little time to be afraid as mischief and chaos tangled with her natural purity. He had felt something similar to this once, when his father's essence saved himself and Kagome from the Thunder Brothers, but it was so _different_ from his father's familiar warmth. This was Kagome with a kitsune's love for fun and tricks and he couldn't help but respond to it the way he would have had another kitsune greeted him in such a way.

Kagome went still, eyes wide as something landed on the crown of her head. She glanced up into Shippou's eyes and gaped as the young kit grasped her bang and bit the end of her nose. They blinked, one surprised at the sudden attack, the other mortified at the loss of control, before they both collapsed into contagious laughter. The rest of the tachi watched and waited, having seen the little guy's greeting of his substitute mother, before breathing a sigh of relief as the two giggled and embraced each other.

Inuyasha looked on, quiet while the others laughed with the reunited pair, relieved as the tension that began with Kagome's changing lifted as if it had never existed. Grateful amber orbs looked back at his lost companion, now found in more ways than one, and returned his attention back to the rain above.

'Kagome,' he sighed against the pitter patter of the downpour. 'You may have changed on the outside, but inside are you still the same?'

(II)

"Milord," the guard began, his head bowed respectfully before returning to attention. "Welcome home."

Sesshoumaru nodded in acknowledgement and passed through the Western Gate, his irritation briefly flaring at the guard's surprise at his returned arm. He continued through the courtyard, ignoring the rain and cool breeze, and entered the palace doors after another pair of guards opened them. They too expressed surprise at his newly gained appendage, though their attention was quickly averted when amber orbs narrowed dangerously. Sesshoumaru made his way through the numerous hallways in his search for Jaken, following the toad's swampy scent toward a nearby corridor. Soon he could hear as well as smell his annoying retainer and was not surprised to find him scolding little Rin as he came around the corner.

"How many times must I tell you, child, not to bring these weeds into the palace!" he screeched as he grabbed a nearby vase and turned it upside down. Rin and a nearby servant watched, mortified, as the water and yellow tulips Rin had found before the rain storm were dumped onto the expensive rug underneath their feet. "Milord does not need these useless plants from you! What good are they to that which is the might and majesty of Sesshoumaru-sama!"

"She is but a child, Jaken-sama," the servant responded nervously as she moved to defend an upset child. "We all show our loyalty and devotion to the lord in the way we know best! What right do you have to tell her she cannot do so as well!"

"Yes Jaken, what right do you have?"

All in the room turned, Rin's eyes lighting with joy as Jaken and the servant visibly shrank in on themselves. Rin rushed to his side and quickly bowed before him, her ponytail bobbing like a floating duck before her chocolate brown gaze sadly gazed up at him. "Sesshoumaru-sama, Jaken-sama says you do not like the flowers I give you? Is this true?"

The glare sent in Jaken's direction should have killed him on the spot, but the little toad chose to faint instead. It was not as if he hated flowers, they just had no use in his plans for his kingdom. But he understood Rin's need to express herself through the unimportant plants and saw no need to dissuade her. He picked up the vase from Jaken's still fingers and passed it toward the servant.

"See to it that this is cleaned," he said instead of answering Rin's question. "And have it ready for the morrow, when the sun is out. Accompany Rin when she goes to replace what was lost."

"Really?" Rin gasped happily. "I just knew you liked them, Sesshoumaru-sama! I just knew it! I will pick extra tomorrow!" She reached for the servant's hand and scampered off, with the servant barely managing to retrieve the vase and give Sesshoumaru a respectful bow before they disappeared around the same corner. Sesshoumaru watched them go, then bent down and plucked Jaken off of the floor by the back of his collar. A growl and a shake were all it took to wake the hapless creature and he gasped, his bulbous eyes wide and terrified as Sesshoumaru stared blankly at him.

"Jaken?"

"Y-y-yes, m-my lord."

"Refrain from upsetting Rin from now on."

Jaken nodded gladly, the action reminding Sesshoumaru of a child's rattle, and quickly agreed. "Of course, milord, anything for you. Anything you s-"

"And Jaken. . ."

"Y-yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

Sesshoumaru opened his fingers, watching dispassionately as Jaken landed beak-first in the muddy flowers with a thick **splat**. "The rug was a gift. Clean it up."

(III)

It was later on in the evening, after most of the castle had fallen asleep, that Sesshoumaru found himself in the massive castle library. Shelves lined the library's walls and made hallways throughout a room big enough for Sesshoumaru to transform into his beastly form and walk around comfortably. Every shelf space was filled with scrolls, some on mundane tasks like agriculture and kingdom finances, while others discussed mysterious power, extinct youkai, and great warriors of time gone by. Tonight he searched the ancient shelves for the answers to a mystery he thought solved less than 24 hours ago. He wandered the rows slowly, his eyes glancing over the markers of a filing system that Kagome would have found familiar if she ever found her way into his private sanctuary. Most of the fluff, nicknamed mokomoko, remained coiled at his shoulder while the rest of it formed a floating tray at his side. Scrolls that looked promising were unrolled, then returned if they did not hold what he needed. Others that looked promising were neatly stacked on his little 'tray' until they resembled a small pyramid.

'This Sesshoumaru believed that the trouble would end once the miko's power was subdued,' he said to himself as he ventured toward a small study alcove nestled in a far corner. 'Never would I have assumed that she would be granted so much power. She returned my arm, something which would have taken a hundred years to grow back, with a simple _brush___against my flesh.' He kneeled down behind a small wooden desk and began his research, ready to spend the rest of the night with his research.

_Certain subjects require 'first person observation.'_

(Chapter End)

SF: Well, that's chapter two-

Inu-chan: Which suxed just as bad as chapter one!

Kagome: Inuyasha!

SF: Grrrr!

**ZAP!**

SF: Butt hole. .

Sango: Wow, SF-sama is angry today.

SF: I am not! (punts pb colored blob on the floor)

PB Blob: Meowwwwww! (fades away)

Kagome: SF-sama! Don't be mean to your cat!

SF: He was in the way! (shakes fist and walks off)

Shippou: (hugging Rin) I can't wait until the military bear comes back. . .

Rin: Me too. Nassi-sama is scary.


End file.
